Taming the Monkey Mind in the Month of Adar

The Month of Adar, according to Jewish spiritual teachings was formed by the letter "Kuf". The letter kuf has a dual nature, it is the letter of holiness as the Hebrew word for holiness is "Kedushah" beginning with the kuf, but it also has an aspect of being related to some mischief -making as the letters used to spell out kuf with different vowels spell out the word "kof' which means monkey.

In the Purim story, the anti-hero of the whole Megillah is the bad and hateful Haman, a descendant of the tribe of Amalek who we are commanded to destroy. Amalek is no longer  the name of a particular tribe or specific nation of people, but now is more of a concept that we are duty bound to eradicate whenever we find it. The negative aspects of Amalek can be connected to breaking down its name into "Amal Kof", the mischief or work of the monkey.

What is the mischief of the monkey?

The numerical value of the word Amalek in Hebrew is equivalent to the numerical value of the word "Safek" which means doubt. When we doubt the value of our own self, or the value of our actions, or the value of our beliefs or when we doubt G-d Himself, we are being attacked by Amalek.

In teachings connected to Meditation, one often comes across the concept of  the Monkey mind, this most often refers to a mind that cannot calm itself down, that is jumping from one worry to the next. The work of "meditation" is to calm this monkey mind down, the method usually suggested is, to find a comfortable place to sit and then close one's eyes and settle down by finding one's breath and then focussing on the breath to enter into a more calm, focused or meditative state.

It is interesting to note that the word for Breath in Hebrew is 'Neshimah" which shares the same consonant letters as the word for the Soul, "Neshomah". When we can connect to our inner self, our soul, through connecting to our breath, we can tame the mischievous Monkey mind and separate from that self -doubting,  G-d doubting trouble maker and enter into a more truthful and calm relationship with reality.

Being able to tame the monkey-mind is a wonderful skill to acquire and can greatly enhance our doverning (praying) too... learning to focus and not give into to the distraction of the
"Amal-Kof".

Adar Bais is a great month to work on this....